Reformed Druids - Anthology 08 A General History (587.0 Kb)

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Reformed Druidism has its beginning at Carleton College in the spring of 1963 as a protest to the college's requirement that all students attend a certain number of religious services or meetings. One of the ways of fulfilling the requirement was by attending services of oneUs own religion. The Reformed Druids of North America proposed to test the degree of freedom permitted under this clause.Druidism was ideal for this attack. It had a perfect combination of exotic ritual plus some relevance to the so-called Judeo-Christian... More >>>

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Reformed Druidism has its beginning at Carleton College in the spring of 1963 as a protest to the college's requirement that all students attend a certain number of religious services or meetings. One of the ways of fulfilling the requirement was by attending services of oneUs own religion. The Reformed Druids of North America proposed to test the degree of freedom permitted under this clause.

Druidism was ideal for this attack. It had a perfect combination of exotic ritual plus some relevance to the so-called Judeo-Christian tradition. If religious credit were granted, the religious requirement could be exposed as totally ineffective. If, on the other hand, credit were denied, the college could be charged with bigotry. The initial attitude of the college was, "If we ignore them, they'll go away".

But the RDNA not only refused to go away, it grew, acquiring an advisor, and becoming a registered college organization. In June, 1964, the religious requirement was repealed. Even though the Druids rejoiced at this triumph, they recognized that their job was not over. For many members the movement had come to represent a valuable part of their spiritual lives. So there was the importance of continuing the RDNA as a protest against all coerced religion.

We still have a definate interest in the Celts, we celebrate the old holidays and full moons, but we've branched out a bit. We experiment with strange customs from a whole lot of different religions. We hold sweatlodges which are conducted in a manner similar to some Native American traditions, have an interest in meditations of all sorts and are always open to new ideas. We tend to focus on discussion of spiritual matters these days rather than protesting organized religion (many of us are members of some organized religion) but who knows what changes the future will bring.

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The Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA) is an American Neo-Druidic organization. It was formed in 1963 at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota as a humorous protest against the college's required attendance of religious services. This original congregation is called the Carleton Grove, sometimes the Mother Grove. There are over 40 groves and proto-groves of the RDNA throughout the United States and Canada. As of 2005 there were approximately 400 grove members, between 2500 and 4000 Druids, and about 100 priests and priestesses.

A liberal arts college, Carleton had been founded by the Congregational Church, but by the 1960s had become a non-denominational institution. Nonetheless, it still held a rule that "attendance is required at the College Service of Worship or at the Sunday Evening Program or at any regularly organized service of public worship." A number of students, including David Fisher, David Frangquist, Howard Cherniack, Jan Johnson and Norman Nelson believed that this rule was unnecessary, and as a form of protest decided to form their own religious group rather than attend any of the already existing ones. Thus they created the RDNA, having meetings near the athletic fields on the college grounds, and filled in this information on their obligatory 'chapel slips'. As Nelson remarked, "The sole motive was to protest the requirement, not to try for alternatives for worship... There was never any intention to mock any religion; it was not intended that RDNA should compete with or supplant any faith. We tried to write a service which could be attended 'in good faith' by anyone."

The RDNA believed that the college authorities would have to accept theirs as a valid form of worship, and that if they didn't then they would be guilty of hypocrisy. The dean of men did nothing, choosing to ignore the group, neither accepting their chapel slips nor taking disciplinary action against them. The dean of women on the other hand chose to accept the chapel slips submitted by the two female members of the RDNA. In 1964, the college abolished the rule requiring the attendance of religious services, and the college's President Nason and his wife actually chose to attend the final RDNA ceremony of that academic year. Nason failed to point out that the consumption of whiskey was a part of the rite despite the fact that the consumption of alcoholic drinks was against the college rules.

After extended discussion with the Druids, the college recognized that its position was untenable, and, in part because of the challenge from the Druids, the religious requirement was dropped in June, 1964. But in creating an effective vehicle to challenge the requirement, the founders had unwittingly fostered an environment for spiritual exploration that many found rewarding. For many Druids the movement had come to represent a valuable part of their spiritual lives, and the founders were stunned to discover that the demand for Druid services continued even after the college requirement disappeared.

Reformed Druidism emphasizes its lack of institutionalized dogma. Each Druid is required only to adopt these basic tenets:

One of the many ways in which the object of Man's search for religious truth can be found is through Nature.Nature, being one of the primary concerns in Man's life and struggle, and being one of the objects of Creation, is important to Man's spiritual quests.The original group were not Neo-Pagan -- most identified themselves as Jewish, Christian, agnostic, atheist, Marxist or as members of other faiths -- and the movement still includes many who do not consider themselves Neo-Pagan.

Chas S. Clifton, an academic scholar of Neopaganism, made several suggestions as to where the early RDNA founders may have got their ideas about Druidry from, noting that there were British Druid groups such as the Ancient Druid Order operating at the time, who held annual ceremonies at the megalithic monument of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, attracting much media attention. Accompanying this, there were ideas about the ancient druids to be found in the "American literary consciousness", where they appeared as guardians of the natural world in the Romanticist poetry of Philip Freneau.

Clifton's speculations are in contrast to the actual motivations for Reformed Druidism. In fact, at a meeting in Fisher's dormitory room about the religious requirement, Cherniack volunteered that his family had always responded to questions about religion by claiming to be Druids, and the group adopted this moniker. When someone pointed out that none of the group knew anything at all about Druids, the suggestion quickly arose that the new group call itself The Reformed Druids of North America, so it could create tenets and rituals out of whole cloth without having to know or care anything about any previous Druids.

The most recent branch of the Reform Druids are the Reformed Druids of Gaia (RDG) in November 2006 that was founded by members from a side-order known as the Order of Mithril Star (OMS) which began in 2003. OMS was inspired by thoughts and practices of the Church of All Worlds and the novel Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. Many members of RDG today do not ascribe to the customs of OMS anymore. RDG derives its priestly linneage from Cerridwen in 2006, they have different ordination procedures, study program and ordination rites. As a result, the branch of the RDG and the branches of RDNA/NRDNA do not officially recognize each other's ordinations, although each forms similar roles, and respectful interaction and collaboration occurs. The RDG has greater central organization, systemized membership fees, study materials, a separate majority vote law code by the Third Order, and don't observe a season of sleep between Samhain and Beltane. The RDG's liturgies resemble those of the RDNA & NRDNA, and members often refer to the historical ARDA 2 collection of Reformed Druid materials that continued up to 2005. RDG has over 400 members and 35 priests and 20 groves. Interaction between the RDG and RDNA and NRDNA is very frequent and often cordial with some cross-over membership, although separate social media, websites and newsletters have given them somewhat distinct senses of identity.

Until 1983, except for a few fraternal Druid organizations with branches in the USA, Reformed Druidism was really the only publicly known type of neo-druidism in America. ADF provided a training program for Neo-Pagan Druids interested in Indo-European religious concepts, a strong central church-like structure, a liturgical formula, and a great number of council and rules.

The RDNA has provided a similar niche for laid-back, disorganized, eclectic Druidism with a vague philosophical/religious outlook that closes parallels the niche of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (OBOD) in Europe, which was founded in 1964. Little interaction is believed to have occurred between the RDNA and OBOD before the late 1990s, each isolate evolving in parallel.

Over the years, many aspiring Druids joined ADF, borrowed some ideas and produced dozens of new groups of their own. Henge of Kelria was the largest offshoot, when this group split off for reasons of protest over training programs, charges of ineptitude, and a preference for only Celtic sources of inspiration.

Similarly, the Order of Whiteoak borrowed material from ADF, RDNA, and Keltra, but produced primarily a core of material based on their own research.

While Reformed Druids are considered the least organized and most playful Druids, their literature is perhaps the more extensively produced and archived of any modern Druid group in America. It is estimated that it would take 100 full days to read through the 7000 pages of the whole genre. Despite the sheer volume, it is quite possible and common for prominent members to participate actively in a Grove or a conference for years without having read more than a few dozen pages, as the oral and living traditions are also quite vital and nuanced.

The written traditions were mostly composed by members of the Third Order priesthood, but the writers do not claim divine inspiration. An understanding or agreement with the written material is generally not required for any office or ordination, but is more commonly browsed by members entering the second or higher orders, or when assuming office responsibilities in a Grove.

The literature is notably non-dogmatic, eclectic, leaning towards philosophic rather than magic in focus, and often written "tongue-in-cheek", with authors tending to poke fun at themselves. Reformed Druidic literature has been an almost entirely open literature, unlike many fraternal or mystical Druid organizations that restrict material to initiates. Most earlier publications were limited in distribution, primarily by the cost of publication in the 1960s and 1970s, but available upon request.

While generally well-researched and crafted, Reformed Druidic materials are not intended as serious academic works, and are intended for its own audience. Except of a few pamphlets, these materials have not been used for proselytizing. Despite the Reformed Druids' lack of missionary impulse, many of the literary traits from Reformed Druidism were transferred to later groups that trace their origins to the RDNA. This is due in large part to the influence of Isaac Bonewits' fervent missionary and publishing efforts in newsletters, member guides, seminary materials and popular books from 1971-2010.

The literature of the major works have various distinct genres, including; the writing of epistles, drafting liturgies, collecting materials for meditative use, historiography, calendar and protocol guides, research tracts on modern and ancient Druidry, council records, oral histories, local event chronographies, teaching guides for new members, recruitment materials, terminology references, bardic material collections, and even game design.

In addition to the major printed collections that have grown exponentially larger every decade, several newsletters and magazines have been published, websites and talk groups have held online since the early 1990s. In other media, members of the Reform has produced full-length movies, albums, and an animated series.

Members of the Reformed Druid priesthood (such as Isaac Bonewits and more recently, John Michael Greer) have published short stories, novels, several books on religion, including modern Druidism, even though those works are not directly related to Reformed Druidism.